March 19, the site will be in read only mode for 4 hours for a maintenance. If you are trying to ask a question and an article does not solve your issue, please find one of our partner sites for more help: @firefox, /r/firefox on reddit, and Mozillazine.org, we will have community standing by. Or live on our IRC channel - https://client02.chat.mibbit.com/?server=irc.mozilla.org channel #sumo

Support Forum

Why are you destroying Firefox?

I started with Netscape in the early days of the Internet, when Internet Explorer was a primitive afterthought. When Netscape went away, I was delighted to find Firefox, which retained the best features of Netscape. Over the years, I found and installed a set of add-ons which make everything I do faster and easier. Now someone at Mozilla is in the process of gutting this premier browser by slamming the door on almost all of my now-legacy add-ons. It looks like I'll have to divide my Internet use in the future between Chrome and (ugh) Edge to be able to approximate the flexibility that Firefox offered for so many years. It's always hard to say goodbye, but it looks like the time has come. So long, old friend.

I started with Netscape in the early days of the Internet, when Internet Explorer was a primitive afterthought. When Netscape went away, I was delighted to find Firefox, which retained the best features of Netscape. Over the years, I found and installed a set of add-ons which make everything I do faster and easier. Now someone at Mozilla is in the process of gutting this premier browser by slamming the door on almost all of my now-legacy add-ons. It looks like I'll have to divide my Internet use in the future between Chrome and (ugh) Edge to be able to approximate the flexibility that Firefox offered for so many years. It's always hard to say goodbye, but it looks like the time has come. So long, old friend.

As far as Mozilla "destroying" Firefox with Quantum to replace Gecko, that is a matter of opinion.

Legacy extensions for the most part are getting replaced with WebExtensions. Although some Legacy extensions don't "translate" to WE format. So like the rest of us you'll need to locate and install suitable WebExtensions going forward, where a WE becomes available. Personally I intend to wait a few months or until Firefox 60 or 61 before spending much time seeking out suitable WE replacements for the Legacy extensions that I have been using.

As far as Mozilla "destroying" Firefox with Quantum to replace Gecko, that is a matter of opinion.
Legacy extensions for the most part are getting replaced with WebExtensions. Although some Legacy extensions don't "translate" to WE format. So like the rest of us you'll need to locate and install suitable WebExtensions going forward, where a WE becomes available. ''Personally I intend to wait a few months or until Firefox 60 or 61 before spending much time seeking out suitable WE replacements for the Legacy extensions that I have been using.''

Helpful Reply

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately for me, the developers of my most useful add-ons have said that WebExtensions don't allow the functions required. They aren't working on replacements for the Firefox platform.

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately for me, the developers of my most useful add-ons have said that WebExtensions don't allow the functions required. They aren't working on replacements for the Firefox platform.

If you want suggestions on replacement extensions, you could name the ones you need to replace.
Mozilla also will be issuing security updates for the Extended Support Release of Firefox 52 through next Spring. https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/organizations/faq/

I'm holding at Firefox 55.0.3, and it can't play Fox News videos any more.

I don't know why that is. Is there an error message? Blocking too many ads? ;-)

Classic Theme Restorer has zillions of settings. The author has posted style rule workarounds for many of them, but some things won't be possible. https://github.com/Aris-t2/CustomCSSforFx
I don't know what DownThemAll! does which makes it different from other downloading add-ons.
iMacros may have a compatible add-on by the end of the year, according to https://imacros.net/imacros-firefox-compatibility-firefox-56-newer/ (but software is often late, so who knows)
Tab Mix Plus also has a huge number of functions, so depending on what you need, there may be replacements.
Download Status Bar sounds difficult because add-ons can no longer create toolbars. This may change next year since there are ongoing discussions about toolbars.
FlashStopper might have replacements.
New version of Refresh Blocker won't be ready in time. What is your typical use case for this?
''algerjoe [[#answer-1025455|said]]''
<blockquote>
I'm holding at Firefox 55.0.3, and it can't play Fox News videos any more.
</blockquote>
I don't know why that is. Is there an error message? Blocking too many ads? ;-)

Question owner

I use Refresh Blocker to keep The Drudge Report from auto-refreshing and pulling me away from what I'm reading.

I guess I'll look into replacements for a few months before bailing out. Switching browsers is a major project for me, since I perform several routine operations where I copy a Web page, paste it into Excel, and use a macro to extract what I need from it.

Thanks for the response.

I use Refresh Blocker to keep The Drudge Report from auto-refreshing and pulling me away from what I'm reading.
I guess I'll look into replacements for a few months before bailing out. Switching browsers is a major project for me, since I perform several routine operations where I copy a Web page, paste it into Excel, and use a macro to extract what I need from it.
Thanks for the response.

Switching browsers is a major project for me, since I perform several routine operations where I copy a Web page, paste it into Excel, and use a macro to extract what I need from it.

Does that give good results? I guess it depends on the page layout. In Excel 2000-2010, I generally use Data > From Web, then use the IE-powered dialog to embed the table I want in the worksheet. It is a little unstable compared with pasting values because refreshing the data request will wreck any formatting you apply.

''algerjoe [[#answer-1025470|said]]''
<blockquote>Switching browsers is a major project for me, since I perform several routine operations where I copy a Web page, paste it into Excel, and use a macro to extract what I need from it.
</blockquote>
Does that give good results? I guess it depends on the page layout. In Excel 2000-2010, I generally use Data > From Web, then use the IE-powered dialog to embed the table I want in the worksheet. It is a little unstable compared with pasting values because refreshing the data request will wreck any formatting you apply.

Question owner

I do Ctrl-A and Ctrl-C, then use
ActiveSheet.PasteSpecial Format:="HTML", Link:=False, DisplayAsIcon:=False, NoHTMLFormatting:=True
to paste the raw data to the worksheet with no formatting. Then I harvest what I need (once I see the layout).

As you would expect, the pasted data layout is completely different if it comes from Chrome, Edge, or IE rather than Firefox. And the company changes the source page layout occasionally for their own purposes. Sigh...

I do Ctrl-A and Ctrl-C, then use
ActiveSheet.PasteSpecial Format:="HTML", Link:=False, DisplayAsIcon:=False, NoHTMLFormatting:=True
to paste the raw data to the worksheet with no formatting. Then I harvest what I need (once I see the layout).
As you would expect, the pasted data layout is completely different if it comes from Chrome, Edge, or IE rather than Firefox. And the company changes the source page layout occasionally for their own purposes. Sigh...

Helpful Reply

I use Classic Theme Restorer to replace Icons with labels - I suffer from sensory overload and the presence of multiple brightly-coloured icons is overwhelming. It's not easy to tell from the github page whether there is a workaround for this.

I also use YesScript to use some pages (e.g. the Gmail login) from using Javascript to force a bright white background.

It is so disappointing that Firefox no longer respects the needs of people with certain disabilities to modify the appearance of the browser!

I use Classic Theme Restorer to replace Icons with labels - I suffer from sensory overload and the presence of multiple brightly-coloured icons is overwhelming. It's not easy to tell from the github page whether there is a workaround for this.
I also use YesScript to use some pages (e.g. the Gmail login) from using Javascript to force a bright white background.
It is so disappointing that Firefox no longer respects the needs of people with certain disabilities to modify the appearance of the browser!

I use Classic Theme Restorer to replace Icons with labels - I suffer from sensory overload and the presence of multiple brightly-coloured icons is overwhelming.

Which icons are causing the problem? Firefox's interface seems to be less colorful than ever...

If you want to use custom style rules to hide site icons on tabs and the bookmarks toolbar -- leaving in place the text associated with the open page or bookmark -- that is something you can do with a custom style rule. I don't know if there is a way to modify add-on icons, but you can move them off the toolbar to an overflow menu so they are out of sight most of the time.

I also use YesScript to use some pages (e.g. the Gmail login) from using Javascript to force a bright white background.

I'm sure there are ways to accomplish this, most likely using an extension that modifies styles in web pages. That would cause less interference with the function of the site than a script blocker.

''nutmeg57 [[#answer-1025548|said]]''
<blockquote>
I use Classic Theme Restorer to replace Icons with labels - I suffer from sensory overload and the presence of multiple brightly-coloured icons is overwhelming.</blockquote>
Which icons are causing the problem? Firefox's interface seems to be less colorful than ever...
If you want to use custom style rules to hide site icons on tabs and the bookmarks toolbar -- leaving in place the text associated with the open page or bookmark -- that is something you can do with a custom style rule. I don't know if there is a way to modify add-on icons, but you can move them off the toolbar to an overflow menu so they are out of sight most of the time.
''nutmeg57 [[#answer-1025548|said]]''
<blockquote>
I also use YesScript to use some pages (e.g. the Gmail login) from using Javascript to force a bright white background.
</blockquote>
I'm sure there are ways to accomplish this, most likely using an extension that modifies styles in web pages. That would cause less interference with the function of the site than a script blocker.

There are icons on the toolbar that have no text, most are a very bright white, one has a sickly green arrow. The icons themselves do not have a clear meaning, although I guess that the kennel might mean home. The History menu is loaded with multi-coloured icons. I don't know how to use "custom style rules" to replace icons with labels. With Classic Theme restorer I just have to activate this option.

There may be ways to change the awful white background of the Gmail login without using YesScript, but unless they are clearly documented somewhere this isn't much use to me.

There are icons on the toolbar that have no text, most are a very bright white, one has a sickly green arrow. The icons themselves do not have a clear meaning, although I guess that the kennel might mean home. The History menu is loaded with multi-coloured icons. I don't know how to use "custom style rules" to replace icons with labels. With Classic Theme restorer I just have to activate this option.
There may be ways to change the awful white background of the Gmail login without using YesScript, but unless they are clearly documented somewhere this isn't much use to me.

i have the same problem. Everything is gone. I had a very heavily modded firefox. The only substitutes it's suggested have been a) nothing like and b) have ruined all my settings. Plus, my now disabled-so-i-can't-disable-them addons have left most of their settings behind, such as no images - so i can't see any images at all, i can't enable them! I used an extension that opened links in a new tab on right click, another that put the whole awesome bar - menu bar etc at the bottom of the screen, all sorts of things that don't exist now. I can't configure cookie behaviour for each site, just nuke the lot or keep the lot; i can't destroy flash cookies; i'm just unable to use any of it. I can't even access some basic about:config settings. I will actually have to uninstall and reinstall the whole damn browser, which is always a nightmare for me as i have memory problems (like, psychiatric level serious ones) and i can't remember every drat password and i can't even remember to write them down, i can't remember what sites i use most, etc etc. I organise my life around my browser and email because of this, when the internet appeared it was my solution. (I don't use a mobile phone, because i lose it every few days and i forget to charge it. You can't lose the internet.) Because i use this browser for banking and because my whole privacy and security settings are hopelessly compromised, i'm going to have to abandon it for every other purpose and use, i dunno, pale moon or qupzilla probably, as i keep vivaldi for facebook (quarantine for fb). Rant over, but very very upset :(

i have the same problem. Everything is gone. I had a very heavily modded firefox. The only substitutes it's suggested have been a) nothing like and b) have ruined all my settings. Plus, my now disabled-so-i-can't-disable-them addons have left most of their settings behind, such as no images - so i can't see any images at all, i can't enable them! I used an extension that opened links in a new tab on right click, another that put the whole awesome bar - menu bar etc at the bottom of the screen, all sorts of things that don't exist now. I can't configure cookie behaviour for each site, just nuke the lot or keep the lot; i can't destroy flash cookies; i'm just unable to use any of it. I can't even access some basic about:config settings. I will actually have to uninstall and reinstall the whole damn browser, which is always a nightmare for me as i have memory problems (like, psychiatric level serious ones) and i can't remember every drat password and i can't even remember to write them down, i can't remember what sites i use most, etc etc. I organise my life around my browser and email because of this, when the internet appeared it was my solution. (I don't use a mobile phone, because i lose it every few days and i forget to charge it. You can't lose the internet.) Because i use this browser for banking and because my whole privacy and security settings are hopelessly compromised, i'm going to have to abandon it for every other purpose and use, i dunno, pale moon or qupzilla probably, as i keep vivaldi for facebook (quarantine for fb). Rant over, but very very upset :(

Hi maiamaia, I'm sorry to hear about your negative experience with this update. While the basic functionality of Firefox could be recovered by using the Refresh feature, that will definitely not bring back what you're missing. When you are ready to transition, or if you have specific issues on which you would like assistance now, please start a new question. For now, you might consider switching from the "stable" release channel to the Extended Support Release channel (ESR).

ESR is Firefox 52 plus about a year's worth of security updates, ending in Spring 2018. It was originally developed for companies that wanted less frequent major updates, but it also is used by many individuals, including all XP and Vista users, and those who need certain legacy plugins like Silverlight and Java. I suggest you back up your entire profile folder before making a 5 version downgrade so that you have those files available for recovery in case anything goes wrong.

Hi maiamaia, I'm sorry to hear about your negative experience with this update. While the basic functionality of Firefox could be recovered by using the Refresh feature, that will definitely not bring back what you're missing. When you are ready to transition, or if you have specific issues on which you would like assistance now, please [https://support.mozilla.org/questions/new/desktop/fix-problems start a new question]. For now, you might consider switching from the "stable" release channel to the Extended Support Release channel (ESR).
ESR is Firefox 52 plus about a year's worth of security updates, ending in Spring 2018. It was originally developed for companies that wanted less frequent major updates, but it also is used by many individuals, including all XP and Vista users, and those who need certain legacy plugins like Silverlight and Java. I suggest you back up your entire profile folder before making a 5 version downgrade so that you have those files available for recovery in case anything goes wrong.
* [[Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles]]
* ESR FAQ and download link: https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/organizations/faq/